Electric submergible pump unit



March 20, 1934. A. ARUTUNOFF ELECTRIC SUBMERGIBLE PUMP UNIT Find Feb. 27, 1aml s sheets-sheet 1 www l will' Il March 20, 1934. A. ARUTUNQ'FF ELECTRIC SUBMERGIBLE PUMP UNIT Filed Feb. 27, 19.31 3 Sheets-Sheet 2 dtbo'z m14 5 March 20, 1934. A ARUTUNOFF v 1,951,919

ELECTRIC SUBMERGIBLE PUMP UNIT l I I y 5 --I p 7g dttozmqs vPiuma! Mar. 2o, 1934 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE 6 Claims.

My invention consists in new and useful improvements in deep well pumps and relates particularly to reciprocating pumps operated bya vertical submergible electric motor-driven unit.

While it is desirable in many instances to employ a reciprocating pump in connection with an electric motor located in the well, there have `been numerous difliculties in obtaining a reciprocating motion suitable for the action of a pump,

that is, a long stroke with a substantially `low number of strokes per minute. Ordinarily a crank operated pumpcannot be employed-in this connection on account of the small diameter of the crank which is necessarily, restricted by the diameter of the well which. in deep oil Wells is usually from fourto eight inches. A short three to five-inch stroke will necessitate, for the required power, such a high number of strokes as to interfere with the valve action of the pump. One of the objects of my invention is to overcome the disadvantages heretofore encountered in apparatus of this character, and to this end I provide means for producing a long stroke pump action from a submergible electric motor with a vertical shaft.

Another object is to provide means for protecting all the working parts from the harmful action of the well iiuid and to embody all of said Working parts of the pumping mechanism in one unit directly connectible to the motor.

A still further object of my invention is to provide means for protecting the pump plunger or piston and cylinder from the abrasive action of sand and grlt, and thus prolong the life and .facilitate the effective operation ofthe apparatus.

With the above and other objects in view which will appear as the description proceeds, my invention consists in the novel features herein set forth, illustrated in the accompanying drawings,

and more particularly pointed out in the appended claims.

Referring to the drawings in which numerals of like character designate similar parts throughout the several views,

away showing the complete assembly.

Fig. 2 is an enlarged view of the upper portion of the pump unit as indicated' in Fig. 1.

Fig. 3 is a sectional view'taken on line 3--3 5o of Fig. 2.

Fig. 4 is an enlarged sectional View of the intermediate portion ofthe apparatus as indicated in Fig. 1.

Fig. 5 is a sectional view taken on line 5-5 of Fig. 4.

Fig. 1 is a view in side elevation partially broken ency to rotate the cam 20 in counter-clockwise Fig. 6 is an enlargeddetail sectional view of the submergible motor unit as indicated in Fig-,1.

Fig. 7 is a sectional` view taken on line 7.-.-7 of Fig. 6.

Fig. 8 is an enlarged detail sectional view of the grease sealing means for the p ump piston or plunger. p

Fig. 9 is a transverse sectional view taken on line 9-9 of Fig. 5.

Fig. 10 is an enlarged View of one form of automatic tension device for the chain drive, and

Fig. 11 is a view ofv a modification.

In the drawings, 1 represents a motor housing carrying a vertical type submergible electric motor 2 which drives a vertical motor shaft 3, the upper end of which is coupled as at 4 to the drive shaft 5 located in the lower end of a second housing 6, suitably secured to the upper extremity of the motor housing 1, said housing 6 being completely filled with lubricating oil. The drive shaft 5 carries at its upper end a pinionA '7 which, through the medium of a bevel gear 8 drives a transverse short shaft 9 which runs in a suitable bearing housing 10,- rigidly supported adjacent the lower extremity of a .vertically extending 80 beam 11 which extends substantially the entire `length of the intermediate housing 6.

The transverse shaft 9 carries a sprocket 12, adapted to operatively engage a suitable endless chain 13 which engages an idler sprocket 14 mounted'on a second transverse shaft 15 a predetermined distance above the shaft 9. The shaft 15 is carried in a suitable bearing housing 16 which is slideably mounted in the Vertical slot 1'7 on the beam 11said housing being secured in place on the beam by suitable bolts 18 extending through lslots 19 inthe frame of said housing. In order to maintain a constant tension on the sprocket chain13, I provide an eccentric cam 20 rotatably secured tothe beam 11 by means of a bolt 21, the periphery of said cam engaging the lower extremity of the frame of the bearing housing 16 as at 22, Fig. 10. A cable or .strap 23 extends around the periphery of the cam 20 and is rigidly secured thereto at one end, its other end running oi the cam surface and being connected to one end ofa suitable coil spring 24, the other end of which is fastened to a bracket 25 mounted on the beam 11, whereby there is a constant tenddirection on the pin 21, which causes an,upward -pressure on the bearing housing 16, thus maintaining a tension on the chain 13.

26 represents anxarm secured at one end to a link of the chain 13 by a studor :linger 27, the 11o from a grease well 48 formed in said cover'.

other end of said arm being operatively connected as at 28 to a guide shoe 29 which reciprocates in a vertically disposed track formed by guide ribs 30. The guide shoe 29 is provided with an outwardly projecting shoulder or ledge 31 which operatively supports the lower end of a pump stem or plunger 32, the upper end of Iwhich projects beyond the casing 6 into the pump cylinder 33 hereinafter described.

The upper end of the intermediate housing6 is closed by a suitable cover 34 apertured to accommodate the stem of the plunger 32 and at its lower extremity by a base 35, whereby the working parts just described are completely pro-- tected from the surrounding fluid in the well.

The pump cylinder 33 is connected to the cover 34 throughL the medium of a pump packing unit 36 which, as will be bestseen from Fig. 8, comprises a cylindrical housing divided transversely into two compartments by a partition 37, the upper compartment comprising a packing chamber 38 and the lower compartment forming a mercury cavity 39, the purpose of which will be hereinafter set forth. The lower end of the packing unit 36 is threaded as at 40 to engage a second packing member and guide 41 for the stem 32, said last named packingv member consisting of a cylindrical housing threaded at 42 to engage a suitable aperture in the cover 34. Within the packing member 41, I provide suitable packing sleeves 43 and 44, spaced apart as at 45 to form a grease cavity for lubricating and packing the plunger 32.

The housing-41 is apertured at 46 adjacent the cavity 45, which aperture is in communication With a port 47 in the cover 34, which in turn leads The grease well 48 is internally threaded to receive complementary threads on the lower end of a grease gun 49, the latter comprising a tubular grease receptacle or cylinder within which is located a plunger 50 maintained under a normally downward pressure by a suitable coil spring 51. whereby when said cylinder is lled with grease, there is a constant tendency for said plunger 50 to force 'said grease through the port 47 into the cavity 45 and around the pump stem 32. 52 represents a suitable tting for charging the grease gun 49.

The upper end Aof the pump cylinder 33 is threaded to engage a hanger 53 (Fig. 3), said hanger being provided with a substantially U- shaped conduit or port' 54 which merges centrally into a discharge conduit 55. One end of the conduit 54 is in communication with the pumpv cylinder 33, while the other end of said conduit is connected to a suction valve housing 55 mounted on the upper end of the grease gun 49, said housing containing a suitable suction valve 56 controlling a. conduit 57 provided with a plurality of inlet ports 58 around its periphery. y

The Vcentral conduit 55 of the hanger 53 is in communication with a discharge valve housing 59 which is secured to the upper end of said hanger, said housing containing a suitable discharge valve 60. The other end of the housing 59 is in communication with the discharge line 6,1

through the medium of a surge chamber 62, theonormally tending to increase the distance be-y latter comprising an enlarged cylinder within which is provided a reciprocating floating plunger 63 which completely lls the cylinder 62 trans versely, but is of substantially lesser vertical dimensions. The piston 63 is apertured centrally to receive a discharge conduit 64 which is in communication with the discharge line 61 at its upper end, and with the discharge valve housing 59 at its lower end, said conduit 64 being provided with a port 65 whereby its interior is in communication with the lower portion or fluid pressure area of the surge chamber 62 below the piston 63 for the purpose hereinafter set forth.

The upper portion or compression area of I To prevent the abrasive action of sand and grit on the piston 32 and the cylinder 33 within which it reciprocates, I provide a column of mercury or other suitable fluid 68 in the pump cylinder adjacent the upper end of the piston 32. It will be noted that sand or any other foreign matter loats'on the mercury column and is thus prevented from working in between the moving parts, and any mercury which may leak past the pump packing 38, will be entrapped in the mercury cavity 39 from whence it may be withdrawn through the opening 39a for further use.

In order to avoid the `possibility of the entrance of the surrounding well fluid into the lubricating oil which fills the intermediate housing 6, a trap 69 is provided, said trap consisting of a closed chamber located within the housing 6 and having two fluid conduits 70 and 71, the former being open to the surrounding well fluid at its upper extremity and terminating at its lower end at thebottom of the trap as shown in Fig. 5.wh1'le conduit 71 connects the lower portion of the housing 6 with the upper portion of the trap. It will be noted that with this arrangement, the displacement of the reciprocating plunger 32 cannot cause loss of oil in the housing 6, as the oil discharged in the trap through conduit 71 by the in-stroke of the plunger 32 is taken back into the housing 6 by the next out-stroke of the plunger, the conduit 70 accommodating the displacement from the trap caused bythe in-owing oil on the instroke of the plunger 32.

72 represents an electrical cable which leads from a suitablel source of supply through the housing 6 to the motor 2 in the housing 1.

In operation the motor 2 drives the shaft 3, which by means of the pinion and bevel gear 7 and 8 respectively, transmits power through shaft 9 and sprocket wheel l2, to the endless chain 13 running on the sprocket wheels 12 and 14. The power from the chain is in turn transmitted through the arm 26 to the pump stem 32 which is reciprocated vertically in the pump cylinder 33 as the chain travels around the sprocket wheels.

As the distance between the sprocket wheels 12 lll() and 14 maybe regulated to any desired degree,

it is obvious that any length of pump stroke may be obtained by my improved arrangement.

The chain 13 is held in proper tension by the action of the eccentric cam 20 which under the load of spring 24, turns on the stationary pin 21,

tween the sprockets and thus automatically compensating for any slack which may have developed in operation from wear or stretching of the chain'.

At this point attention is directed to Fig. 11 which illustrates a modified form of tension device. Instead of the cam 20 I may employ a loaded screw spring arrangement comprising a vertically disposed screw member 73 threaded for a portion of its length at its upper end to engage suitable threads in a transverse support 74, its lower extremity being reduced and terminating in a head 76. A coil spring '75 encircles the lower portion of the screw '73 with its upper end xed to an intermediate point 77 on said screw, the lower end of said spring being rigidly secured to a second support 78 within which the reduced end of said screw is rotatably mounted. 'Ihe upper end of the screw 73 abuts the. lower portion 22 of the frame 16 and when the head 76 is rotated in counter-clockwise direction, the frame 16 and the sprocket wheel carried thereby is lowered on the beam 11, said counter-clockwise movement simultaneously expanding said spring 75 and building up a reverse tension. Thus when this head is released, the spring 75 tends to rotate the screw 73 in clockwise direction to elevate the frame 16 and sprocket wheel 14, thus compensating for any slack which may occur in the chain 13.

The down-stroke of the pump piston 32 causes a suction in the conduit 54 and draws in a quantity of fluid through the inlet ports 58 and suction valve 56, the discharge valve 60 being in closed position. Now on the up-stroke of the piston 32, the suction valve 56 is in closed position and the column of fluid is forced upwardly through conduit 55, past the discharge valve 60, through conduit 64 in the surge chamber and into the discharge line 61.

The surging of the fluid discharged from the pump is prevented by this surge chamber,l wherein thefpiston 63 moves up and down taking on any fluctuations of pressure and thus relieving the working parts of the pump from shock loads and insuring a uniform and steady flow in the discharge line 61. It will be noted that the piston 63 acting against the column of compressed air in the upper portion of the chamber 62 serves as a. cushion and opposes the pressure of the fluid passing through the conduit'64, said pressure being transmitted -to the under-side of the piston 63 through the port 65.

In the drawings, I have shown a chain of the roller type but it is obvious that any other type of chain-drive may be employed and while I have shown gear-driving mechanism, I am aware that a worm-gear transmission may be employed and also that two chains may be used if desired, one on either side of the main gear.

Furthermore, whileI have illustrated a singleacting type of pump for simplicitys sake, a double-acting pump may be employed in connection with my invention probably to a greater advantage, as with this type of pump the motor will run loaded at either stroke, better utilizing the motor power.

From the foregoing it is believed that the construction and advantages of my invention may be clearly understood by those skilled in the art without further description, it being borne in mind that numerous changes may be made in the details of construction and operation without departing from the spirit of the invention as set forth in the following claims.

What I claim and desire to secure by Letters Patent isz- 1. A flexible transmission for driving a vertical electric submergible pump or the like cornprising a vertically disposed cylindrical casing, a motor driven shaft extending into one end of said casing, a vertical beam in said casing, sprocket Wheels carried by said beam, an endless chain running around said sprocket wheels, a gear transmission driven by said shaft and driving said endless chain, a vertically reciprocable rod extending into the other end of said casing, a guide-shoe supporting the end of said rod and running in a guide-way on said beam, means for operatively connecting said guide-shoe to a point on said endless chain, whereby the rotary motion of said shaft is transformed into a long stroke reciprocating motion for said rod, and means at the vertical extremities of said casing for connecting the same co-axially between a pump unit and a motor unit.

2. A flexible transmission as claimed in claim 1 including tension means for said chain.

3. A flexible transmission as claimed in claim 1 including tension means designed to normally force one of said sprocket wheels vertically away from the other of said sprocket wheels.

.4. A flexible transmission as claimed in claim 1 wherein one of said sprocket wheels is carried in a frame slidably secured to' said beam, and means for normally moving said sliding frame in a vertical direction away from the other sprocket wheel.

5. A exible transmission as claimed in claim 1 wherein one of said sprocket wheels is carried in a frame slidably secured to said beam, and a spring loaded cam for normally forcing said slidable frame in a vertical direction away from the other sprocket wheel.

6. A flexible transmission for transforming the rotary movement of a prime mover into a long stroke reciprocating motion for a pump rod or the like comprising a vertically disposed cylindrical casing, a vertically extending support in said casing, sprocket wheels carried on said support in spaced relation, one of said sprocket wheels being operatively connected to said prime mover, a sprocket chain connecting said wheels, an arm having one of its ends connected to said chain and its other `end operatively connected to said pump rod, and means at the vertical extremities of said casing for connecting the same co-axially between a pump unit and a motor unit.

ARMAIS ARUTUNOFF. 

